Mother Dearest
by Moixx
Summary: A Mother's Day plan does not go well for Lindsay Willows. But with a little help from Sara, can everything be put right?
1. Chapter 1

Mother Dearest. A short fiction dedicated to Mothers day.

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The shouting attracted nosey bystanders all around. Catherine Willows brought fear to rapists, murderers and child molesters and she could not even control her own teenage daughter. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips as the younger blond continued her own selfish rant.

'And I had a whole surprise for you! You always say I don't care! Well here I am caring for once and you aren't interested!!'

By this point, her eyes were filling up with tears and guilt was eating away at Catherine.

'I don't even know why I bother anymore mom!'

If it was any other situation Catherine would have found the role reversal funny. Usually it was her who yelled at Lindsay for not caring, not Lindsay yelling at her.

Blood rushed to her cheeks as she suddenly remembered she was standing in the center of the lab corridor with all her colleges surrounding her. Her embarrassment was soon controlled as she pushed the fifteen year old girl into the nearest room- which luckily happened to be her own office. Lindsay collapsed into the nearest chair and tried desperately to control her sobs.

'Look Lindsay. This isn't my fault. Out of my control. I think its lovely you thought of me on mother's day but seriously, this can't be helped. I will be back in a couple hours and I need you to stay here. I'll make this up to you, okay?'

Accepting defeat, the girl nodded still trying to hide her tears of disappointment from her mother.

Glancing quickly at her watch, Catherine knew she was late for her scene. Taking one last look at her daughter, she left the room, gently closing the door behind her.

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Please review. Next chapter should be up soon.


	2. Chapter 2

Despite being her daughter, this was the first time Lindsay had been in her mother's office. Catherine had been sure to clearly separate her two lives- Work and Home. Unfortunately for Lindsay, work seemed to be top priority lately. But since she got older, Lindsay began to enjoy the freedom she received from her mother working so much. She regularly stayed out late at parties, got drunk and went out on dates with inappropriate guys. But as a teenager, Lindsay loved it.

So when she decided to turn over a new leaf and show her mother that she was actually appreciated, Lindsay thought her efforts would please Catherine. A posh restaurant was booked, Lindsay's treat, and cute diamante studs were bought as a gift. Instead, Catherine was called in to work before they even finished their appetisers. But of course, as usual, it could not be avoided. A serial killer had claimed another victim, and Ms Willows was leading CSI on the case. So they left the restaurant and rushed over to the lab.

Lindsay was stuck inside the office. There was nothing for her to do, and no where for her to go. Not only that, but because she had missed dinner, her stomach loudly rumbled, indicating the need for food.

The opened the door to the office and was thankful to see the crowd from earlier had dispersed. From memory, she traced her way to the break room in search of any kind of food. At first she thought she was alone in the room and she silently made her way over to the fridge. Before she could even reach the handle, a crunch of paper from behind startled her.

'Hey Lindsay,' It was Sara. She recognised her from the quick introduction her mom had given one day a couple years ago when she had came with her to pick up some files. 'What you doing here on a Sunday night?'

Lindsay groaned irritably. She didn't exactly want to go into the story about how her mom pissed her off. And she knew Sara would just side with Catherine and give her a lecture about how it wasn't her fault.

'I'm waiting for my mom to come back from a scene.'

The woman smiled her usual gap-toothed grin. 'That may take a while. I know on television a whole case can be solved in an hour, but in reality we are stuck at scenes for hours on end.'

Lindsay shrugged in response, attempting to show that it did not bother her. 'Got any decent food in here? I'm starving.' Sara laughed in response and glanced at her watch. 'I'm almost finished shift. How bout I take you to go get some decent food?'

The teenager smiled in response. 'Sounds okay I suppose.'

'I'll just go clear things with Grissom.' With that Sara left, taking the file she was working on with her.


	3. Chapter 3

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They arrived at Taco Bell half an hour later. An awkward silence began as soon as they sat down. The fact it was Mother's day made the fast food restaurant unusually quiet for this time, which just enhanced the lack of conversation occurring.

It was clear to Sara that something was bothering the girl, but she was unsure of how to approach the subject. It wasn't like her and Lindsay were close. She may be out stepping her boundaries.

Lindsay caught her staring and she knew that Sara could sense something was wrong. Sighing in frustration she finished chewing a bite of her chicken taco. 'I had a fight with my mom.'

Sara smiled a little, grateful that she didn't need to approach the topic first of all. 'What about this time?'

'Her work again. I made plans for Mother's day and then she got called in.'

'I bet that pissed you off.'

Lindsay laughed. 'Yeah it did.' She took a deep breath. 'It's the first time I've done something like this since I was a little kid. I thought she would appreciate it.'

'Well I know your mother Lindsay. She would have appreciated it. I'm sure she was as devastated as you when she got called in, probably even more. And mother would kill to spend time with their kid on mother's day. But work is work.'

'Yeah I suppose.' They continued eating their tacos for a while. 'I ran away once. Skipped school and took a bus to Bakersfield in California. As soon as I got there, I got a bus back. By the time I got back, she didn't even notice I was gone.'

'You shouldn't do that Lindsay. Anything could have happened.'

'Oh please. Like you never ran away as a kid. Maybe you never went as far away as that but I'm sure at one point in your life you had enough and just left for a while.'

Sara squirmed at the question, knowing she couldn't lie to the girl. 'Sure I ran away Lindsay. But a lot of bad stuff happened to me. I wouldn't wish that upon anyone.' She lifted up her pant leg revealing a pale pink scar, slightly visible from her kneecap to mid-calf. 'I was attacked one night in Sacramento. Managed to escape any serious stab wounds and ended up with a six-inch gash on my left leg. Got my wrist broke that time too.'

The message obviously got through to Lindsay seeing as the girl had a shocked look on her face.

'I never had a mom like you did. You are going to have so many more mother's days and birthdays and Christmases. This one won't be important. But you will have next year and the year after and the year after.'

'What happened to your mom? How old were you?'

'She was arrested when I was twelve. Me and my brother were shipped off to a foster home and got separated after a few months. Never saw him again. Apparently he died of a drugs overdose when he was twenty.'

'What did your mom do?' Lindsay asked after another long silence. Sara was surprised by how curious the girl was. Must take after her mother, she thought.

'She killed my father… still in jail for it too. She had some problems as a kid, and grew up to become quite violent. I never got a mother like you Lindsay. It's so easy these days to take everything she gives you for granted. But she works so hard, and it's not for herself, its for you. It's so she can be the best mom she can be, by giving you opportunities and everything else you need. And she is so proud of you. Don't forget that.'

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Please please review. I would love to know what you think- positive or negative!

Last chapter should be up soon.


	4. Chapter 4

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Sara dropped Lindsay off back at the lab to wait for her mother to come back. She didn't need to wait long. Catherine had convinced Nick to take over so she could get back to her daughter. She felt truly awful for doing this to her after she went to so much effort. Their relationship had been strained lately and the one chance Lindsay gave her to make it right she screwed up. She expected to find her office empty when she got back, expecting that Lindsay had stormed off and was in all sorts of trouble.

What she didn't expect was to find Lindsay Willows sound asleep on the couch in her office. It reminded Catherine of when her daughter was only a little girl. They spent time together baking cookies and shopping, not like now when the very little time their schedules clashed they argued like an old married couple.

Lindsay woke as soon as her mother entered the room. She could tell from the look on her mothers face that she was painfully sorry. The teenager rose from the couch and walked over to where her mother stood. Catherine braced herself for another fight and prepared to beg forgiveness. She was completely taken aback when her daughter held her tight in a hug.

The embrace lasted forever in Catherine's mind. It had been years since Lindsay allowed her mother to hold her, but even she could admit it felt nice to feel close to her mom again.

Catherine began to cry loudly against her daughter's shoulder, and this encouraged Lindsay to start.

'I'm so sorry Lindsay. I haven't been a good mother to you lately, but that will change I promise.'

'No mom. I'm sorry. I haven't been a good daughter. But I just want you to know that I miss you so much. And I'm going to make up for tonight the next night you are off.'

Catherine smiled at the thought that her Lindsay wanted to try again at a Mother's day. The entire evening, Catherine feared her daughter would run away, or never speak to her again, or rebel in an even worse way she already had been doing.

She wasn't sure what brought on this change in her child, but she was glad of it. It was like having her old Lindsay back, before the fights and the conflict. Lindsay silently thanked Sara for showing her the true importance her mothers love provided her with. She only had two more years of this before she would be off to college and beginning her own life. She felt she owed her mom those two years, but to reassure her that Lindsay will be okay by herself. That she could be responsible and trusted. That she would come back to her mom if she needed her. Catherine knew that finally the rebellious teenage years were over and a new stage of motherhood was just beginning.

Letting Lindsay go would be the hardest step yet.

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So thanks for reading. Please let me know what you think in a review. And I hope you all have a nice Mothers Day.


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